Panasonic Automotive Target of USMCA Rapid Response Labor Complaint

A Mexican union and a U.S. nonprofit, Rethink Trade, jointly filed a rapid response complaint Monday with the U.S. Labor Department against Panasonic Automotive's plant in Reynosa, Mexico, alleging workers there are being denied the right of free association and collective bargaining. The complaint was filed under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement on free trade. The plant manufactures automotive audio systems and displays for export to the U.S. and other markets. The union complainant, Sindicato Nacional Independiente de Trabajadores de Industrias y de Servicios "Movimiento 20/32" (SNITIS), says more than 600 workers at the plant asked the organization to be their new union, but Panasonic is collaborating with an alternative union, Confederacion de Trabajadores de Mexico (CTM). According to the complaint, the plant has about 2,000 workers. SNITIS and Rethink Trade say Panasonic fired more than 60 workers who support SNITIS, and alleged Panasonic won't sign a contract with the union that receives the majority of the votes in elections scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Panasonic reached a contract with CTM, and the company started withholding union dues for that union March 25, the complaint says. The petition asks that dues deductions end, and that fired workers get reinstated with full back pay and interest. It also says the contract with the CTM union must be terminated, and the Mexican government should order the company to negotiate in good faith with whichever union wins the elections. The last time the U.S. was asked to start a rapid response case against a Mexican factory, it took a month for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Labor Department to announce they would begin consultations with the Mexican government over the issue. USTR didn't comment, nor did Panasonic Automotive. If the U.S. government brings a case, the Mexican government would have 10 days to declare if it will look into whether the complaint has merit.